Meet the New Roku TV Rival – Pleio is Freely’s 4K Streaming Puck

While Freeview is slowly being replaced by its streaming service Freely, the only way to previously get hold of it was to buy a TV with the OS built in. But that’s all changed.

Everyone TV is partnering with entertainment/technology company Netgem to launch the first-ever ‘plug-in and stream’ Freely puck that connects to your telly via a HDMI slot – no dish or aerial needed.  It’s called Pleio.

Pleio is a palm-sized, circular streaming puck. It runs over Wi-Fi (with Bluetooth support available), and supports both live and on-demand telly via Freely. It boasts 4K resolution and HDR where available, and comes with a voice remote and a gamepad – more on that later.

The Pleio runs on Android TV 14, with support for passthrough Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound.

As it’s Freely, it doesn’t require users to pay any subscriptions to watch its range of channels – though you will need a TV licence to watch live content from the likes of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Live TV can be paused and restarted.

Tech Advisor’s review also demonstrates that users can also access premium streaming apps such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, making this a viable alternative to Roku and Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks.  

You can switch between channels and live/on-demand content via the mini-guide, save your favourite shows and movies in the My List section, and browse what’s coming up with the seven-day TV guide.

The device isn’t free, but neither were Freeview boxes. It costs £99, and you can buy it from Amazon, Freely and Pleio. Broadband customers of WightFibre, Connect Fibre and BRSK can also get the puck bundled in for free.

Those who buy a Pleio puck will get three months of the add-on subscription thrown in at no extra charge. After the trial period, this will set you back an extra £9.99 per month. This subscription adds over 250 cloud games, an extra 150 channels and curates content into genre sections such as Series, Movies, Sports and Kids.

If you’ve got a slightly older TV, this may be ideal for you, as Managing Director of Netgem UK Sylvain Thevenot explains: “The integration of Freely with Netgem’s entertainment service positions this streaming puck as the optimal choice for all households and breathes a second life to all TV sets at an affordable price.”